Month: July 2017

We were infatuated
falling in love as if
we were on a carousel;
fine as long as we kept
our eyes on each other
and ignoring that
everything else had spun
into a blurry chaos.

Our ticket was only good
for a couple of turns
and the ride was over
before either of us was ready.
We parted ways with a kiss
smiling sadly at the laughing lovers
still waiting in line to
experience the high price of dizziness.

Please don’t tell me
that you only meant well
in my experience
meaning well doesn’t end
with a city of on fire and
a girl at the top of a
staircase leading to nothing
trying to remember where
she dropped her heart
before the chaos started
and everything was lost.

Home may be where most hearts are
but mine is an iron anchor
travelling the world affixed to myself
providing me the luxury
to render home where I want it to be
and that even if I choose to leave
it will keep me steady while I stay.

For as long as I could remember, I was guilty of dismissing Science Fiction as frivolous, if not tacky reading. I was convinced that it would contain all characters called Beep Boop 123 or Zphldiznmike and have generic plot lines difficult to relate to. I dwelled instead between the pages of Classic Literature and Contemporary Fiction with many vacations to the shores of Crime and Mystery, and I was happy.

That was, until my brother bought me Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein for Christmas. I was less than enthused, but I really try to read recommendations. This was the gateway drug to my beloved niche of Science Fiction, which I call Early to Mid-20th Century Sci Fi. There is probably a better categorical name, but I am still a newcomer!

Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Philip K Dick and Arthur C Clarke have become pillars that I worship at. They generally write from a period just after World War II, and a lot of the fiction extends expectations and predictions as to what life would look like in the era that we now inhabit. The writing and narrative lends itself in the same way as a lot of the classic literature I was used to, a la Hemmingway and Fitzgerald, which let me dip my toe in with comfort.

The writing is rich and beautiful, and I was fascinated and satisfied, in a way, to compare our modern time to what these writers expected from the future all those years ago. The characters are complexly drawn, and still relatable as we currently sit on the brink of new technology at all times. We are still the humanity that could reach deep into the galaxy, could go to war with robots, could be wiped out by alien forces and buy the farm. These works are philosophical, beautiful, haunting and comedic. They encourage forward thinking, demand empathy with their characters, and are no less entertaining for it. They are diverse and wonderful; some will have you yearning for the future they describe, and some will break your goddamn heart.

So now, readers, I implore you. Read Science Fiction. Just try it out, take it for a test drive. It doesn’t have to be the same sub-genre that I prefer, however I do think it a good starting point for literary enthusiasts that mainly read Classics.

If you are interested in some of the readings that drew me in, here a couple favourites:

It was in the way that she moved or
laughed and you knew without a doubt
that in another life not so long ago
she used to be the waves in the ocean
or at the very least the perfect orbs
of dew on blooming dahlias in the
gentle hazy glow of the rising sun.

You knew it in the way that everyone
would change and grow in her presence
that she was used to being part of a cycle-
of something bigger and grander than
anyone could give her here and it
was not hard to tell how much she
loved you but it was only a matter of time
before she was needed somewhere else more.